It´s official, I am a Peace Corps volunteer

It is cold here today, must be only 75 degrees. The whole month of October and most of November and December are cool with rain almost daily (I understand the relativity of this description and I imagine most of you are scoffing at me, deservedly so). It reminds me of early spring in northeast Ohio, only with palm trees and Hondurans rather than maples and Ohioans and without the remnants of that white stuff, what do you call that again? Funny how some things are so easily forgotten. I am now settling into my new home with ease and comfort. It is strange how natural it feels for me to be here, almost like something I did in another lifetime and I am just stepping back into this really familiar environment and taking over where I left off. While I was sad to see my new friends with whom I have spent the last 3 months training with go as we parted ways to our respective sites, I was also ready to start doing what I came here to do. You may ask, Jessica, what exactly is it you are there to do? My reply…I am figuring it out hour by hour, day by day, week by week. Every day another little piece of the puzzle comes to into the light, even if it is just a Spanish word I did not know the day before. Some pieces are bigger than others, yesterday for example the head of the Office for Ethnics (there are people of color here too, one prominent group in this area are the Garifunas) pulled me aside to discuss a latrine project he would like to see come to fruition during my time here. Next week we are going to take a ride out to the “campo”, which is what they call really rural areas of this country, to check out the sites. My role in this project will be to understand what they need, make a connection with funding sources that can make it happen, work along side them to write the grant, and offer any other support I am able. My role is as a development agent, developing people and their skills, not just do work for them. Besides, while I do know how to write grants (right Alan?!), my experience is in the United States and in English!! For me to attempt to write grants on behalf of the people in my community and the municipality would be futile. They obviously know more about their community and their language then I ever will, let alone after living here for one whole week. So what I can and will do is point them in the right direction, bring to their attention NGOs (non-governmental organization) they never knew existed that can help, give general guidance on grant writing and what lenders are looking for in projects and act as a task master to ensure the steps are being taken to accomplish the goals the people in my community have made for themselves. My work will also entail working in the schools with citizenship participation, teaching English and some health initiatives. Pretty good stuff huh? I sure think so. As I am now at my new residence, I have a new address for you to send mail (something I strongly suggest you do of course, I will happily return the correspondence):

Jessica Dillworth
El Porvenir, Atlatida
Barrio Nuevo
Honduras, Central America


These are for Kristin´s mom!! It´s so funny, lots of us have blogs, but some of us (I won´t mention any names Emily and Kristin) so I give them cameos in mine because their families read it. I love doing it!!

Thanks for taking this journey with me, I appreciate you checking in. I am glad to be able to share this time in my life with you.